New Council of Management members bring cinema exhibition and digital media expertise to BBFC

New Council of Management members bring cinema exhibition and digital media expertise to BBFC

Mel Alcock and Lesley Mackenzie are named as members of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Council of Management. They replace retiring members Graham Lee and Steve Jaggs, former Chair and Vice Chair of the Council of Management respectively, until 2016.

Date 05/04/2017

Mel Alcock is a Non-Executive Director of Arts Alliance Media and most recently was Chief Operating Officer of Curzon. He has spent thirty years in the media industry, holding senior roles in Fremantle, Disney and Sky. Lesley Mackenzie has twenty years’ experience as a leader in traditional and digital media companies, including Sky, Lovefilm, Amazon and ProSiebenSat 1. She is also a former Content Board Member of Ofcom.

The BBFC's Council of Management is responsible for the BBFC's operational and strategic management and senior staff appointments. They have no involvement in classification decisions of any kind, which are handled solely by the Board of Classification.

Maggie Carver, Chair of the Council of Management said: "I would like to extend a warm welcome to both Mel and Lesley. They bring valuable expertise to the Council of Management from sectors in which the BBFC is well established and where it is breaking new ground, for example in 2016 the BBFC classified more films than in any year films since 1957, while the volume of content classified for digital release increased by 85% compared to 2015.

"I would also like to thank our members who stand down; Graham Lee, my predecessor as Chair; and Steve Jaggs, Vice Chair; for their many years of commitment to the BBFC and for guiding the Council of Management through its transformation".

David Austin (OBE), Chief Executive of the BBFC said: "I would like to welcome Mel and Lesley on behalf of all BBFC staff. As the BBFC enters a phase where new services are evolving in line with public expectations and industry needs, it is vital to bring relevant knowledge and skills to the Council of Management.

"The BBFC is a non-profit company that works hard to operate at the lowest costs to industry possible, while innovating to ensure its classification services are the best in the world. The BBFC could not achieve this without the leadership and scrutiny of its Council of Management and Mel and Lesley will be integral to ensuring this approach to operating continues to flourish and serve to the highest standards."

Outgoing members Steve Jaggs and Graham Lee have served on the Council of Management since 2001 and 2003 respectively and the BBFC would like to acknowledge their contributions to the BBFC particularly during its development of new services in response to key evolutions in the home entertainment and digital markets.

About BBFCThe BBFC is an independent, private, not-for-profit company which classifies films, video on all physical formats (DVD and Blu-ray Disc for example) and certain video games, and trailers. It also classifies, on a best practice voluntary basis, video content for distribution online. The BBFC operates transparent, well-understood and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification regimes, such as its digital video service, based on years of expertise and published Classification Guidelines which reflect public opinion and the risk of harm; and is accountable to Parliament.

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